Archive for the ‘Rolemodels’ Category

Our sports stars may argue that they are not rolemodels but athletes, but our high school basketball coaches cannot mount such an argument. How they model behaviour during good times and bad, reacting to poor referee decisions as well as good ones, is crucial to nuturing fine young sportspeople with the right type of values.

A high school basketball game in Pennsylvania took an ugly turn at the end as video appears to show one coach headbutting a referee with so much force it knocked the official to the ground.

Video of the game, between Pennsbury High School and Neshaminy High School, two schools outside of Philadelphia, was obtained by the blog, City of Basketball Love.

According to the report (via Deadspin), the incident came with less than 30 seconds left in the game when a Neshaminy player was called for a charge. Neshaminy head coach Jerry Devine argues the call with one ref when a second official comes up and appears to call a technical foul on Devine. That’s when things got ugly.

You can argue that sports stars and music artists never signed up to be role models. The same can not be said about teachers. When you decide to become a teacher, you are by extension signing up to be a person of influence over impressionable children.

As much as teachers are as fallible as others and are prone to poor judgement like the rest of us, doesn’t in any way excuse unprofessional behaviour. A teacher that comes to school drunk would be fortunate to get a second chance:

A Spanish teacher at a Connecticut high school was pulled out of class in handcuffs with very little explanation last week, and a local news station is reporting he showed up to class visibly drunk and pissed his pants in front of students.

Southington (Conn.) High School parents got a letter from the principal about the Thursday morning incident, but it went into very little detail: The teacher “behaved in an unprofessional manner… and was removed immediately from the classroom.”

An anonymous source at the school told WTNH that when students started taking video of the teacher, he flipped: “The kids were video taping it and he proceeded to pin a student up against the wall. He did make physical contact with a student.”

The unruly teacher was apparently handcuffed and removed from the school, but no police report was filed, according to Southington PD. WTNH visited the superintendent’s office to find out why police were never called and parents weren’t told what really happened, but assistant superintendent Karen Smith didn’t provide any answers.

Our children grow up believing that fame and fortune comes without its price. That the celebrities adorning their bedroom walls are the definition of happiness and that being well known equates to being well liked.

It’s all a lie.

Unfortunately, the events of the past month prove how false this theory is. First there was the giant of an actor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, whose potential for further groundbreaking performances was destroyed at the hands of a drug addiction.

This morning I heard the sad news of the death of local model and television star, Charlotte Dawson. Apparently, she died as a result of debilitating chronic depression which she had experienced for some time.

Our celebrities are human. They make mistakes, they have bad habits and they have their ups and downs like we all do.

Instead of setting children up to believing that happiness lies in a bank balance or a golden statue, let’s show them how they can find some real happiness for themselves.

I don’t buy into the expectation that all athletes have a duty to be role models for their fans. I think ideally every person, from every walk of life, should try to be a role model. There is no reason why athletes should be more responsible for their behaviour than anyone else.

But surely, the least they can do is show some humility and sportsmanship. I’m not asking for a perfect personal life or abstinence from alcohol, just the very basic adherence to mature civilized conduct on their field of play.

I accept that when you are young, have too much downtime and are idolised and hounded by fans, you are likely to find it hard to forever make the right decisions. But there is no excuse for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Below are two examples of behaviours that our kids really shouldn’t be exposed to:

Watching the heartwarming clip above, I reflected on how impressionable young children can be. They are so willing to learn and to follow, all they need is a collection of rolemodels to set the direction.

When it comes to being a rolemodel, a teacher is not a parent and should never pretend to be an alternative or substitute to a child’s parent. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t set a positive example for our students.

After all, they are constantly looking for reminders that the world is a good place, where happiness is attainable and hurdles can be overcome.

In less than two minutes, nine-year-old Chicago Public School student Asean Johnson on Wednesday unloaded a heartfelt plea to save teachers while excoriating the Board of Education that signed off on last week’s massive budget cuts and teacher layoffs.

“One thing I don’t about this board is that you only give us two minutes to speak and you give these corporate businesses, what, an hour to speak?” the student said during his emotional speech (embedded above).

Johnson called for parents and teachers to be in control of the board and for their voices to be heard. “Don’t let the bank control this board,” the 9-year-old pleaded. “You are saying this is all about the kids … I’m a student myself and I’m pleading and begging that you help these parents who are low-income. Give them what the need. Give them these schools.”

A tear fell from Johnson’s chin after the moderator asked him to wrap up his remarks. Before departing the podium, Johnson advised the board, “You need to go tell the mayor to just quit his job.”